Electromechanical brake systems are known in the art. In those systems, an actuator ram applies force to a stack of brake disks to brake a rotating wheel associated with the brake disk stack. When no braking is desired, it has been desirable to position the actuator ram out of contact with the brake disk stack so that the wheel can rotate freely. Often, this position is commanded by a controller and the commanded location is referred to as a running clearance position.
As the disks wear through use of the brake system, the distance between the actuator ram in the running clearance position and the brake stack can increase. Also, during periods of braking, the brake disk stack and structural members of the brake system can undergo thermal expansion and contraction, which also changes the distance between the actuator ram in the running clearance position and the brake stack.
Since it is desirable to maintain a running clearance that is small enough to allow rapid application of brake force and large enough to reduce the risk of inadvertent clamping caused by thermal expansion and brake stack variations, attempts have been made to monitor brake conditions to adjust the commanded running clearance position. However, measuring brake disk stack wear and changes resulting from thermal expansion and contraction have proven to be exceedingly difficult.